Chapter 56: Knight and Damsel
THE next morning, as Iris was walking down the hall in the girls’ dormitory, a classmate suddenly flagged her down. She was standing with a group of girls—maybe they’d put her up to it after she lost a game of rock-paper-scissors or something. Iris was mildly surprised, since this had never happened before.
“Lady Iris, um, I realize this is probably a strange and sudden question,” she began, fidgeting with her hands, “but is it true that you and Prince Reseda, um…aren’t engaged? I’m sorry if this is rude, but they asked me to find out, so…”
As she stared down at the floor, her voice slowly petered out. Someone in her circle probably has a crush on Reseda, Iris thought. I’d better be careful, so I don’t frighten them.
“Yes, it’s true. His Highness and I are not betrothed,” Iris told them frankly with a smile. At this, the rest of the group all swarmed her.
“Are you engaged to someone else, then?”
“Don’t be silly!” Iris laughed. She hadn’t heard anything of that nature for a long time now. No one would dare propose to me with my scars, anyway.
“Lady Iris, I’d love it if you’d come to tea at my family’s estate.”
“I have an older brother, you know!”
“I have a brother, too, but he’s a year younger—”
“I have a cousin who works at the Temple of Magic!”
Everyone started shouting all at once. Iris blinked. The girls glared at each other.
“I’m the one who started this conversation!”
“Only because you lost at rock-paper-scissors!”
“Because you said you were too scared to speak to her!”
“Older suitors should get priority, and my cousin’s the oldest!”
Smiling stiffly, Iris stood there as the entire group bickered with each other. At this rate, she was going to be late for class.
“My apologies, but I need to be going now. Once you’ve all come to an agreement, come find me again.” Really, what was all the fuss about? And here I thought Reseda was the only oddball willing to invite a soilpox survivor to tea.
Iris left the dorm and headed for the school building. As she walked, the students she passed all turned their heads to look at her. What’s going on? Is something wrong with my hair? She ran a hand over it, but it seemed fine.
“Good morning, Miss Iris.”
The sudden voice made her stop in her tracks. Judging from the pin on his uniform, he was an older student, but other than that, she had no idea who he was. “Good morning,” Iris replied.
“I wanted to ask you—is it true you’re not engaged to Prince Reseda?”
It was her second time on the receiving end of this question today. Is this a hot topic or something? “Yes, that’s true,” she answered.
Little did she know, the male students in her vicinity were doing fist-pumps and celebrating.
“In that case—”
“LADY IRIIIIS!”
But before he could finish, Camille came dashing into her arms, nearly in tears.
“Goodness, what’s the matter, Miss Camille?”
Conflicted, she glanced all around. Several male students were gazing at her ardently. Apparently, they’d been chasing her, trying to get her to walk to school with them. I should have known the protagonist would be such a hit with the boys.
Now that it was revealed that she was officially an aristocrat—and the Holy Maiden to boot—these young men could court her without worrying about their parents’ approval. Yep, makes sense, Iris thought, nodding. And, of course, Camille wasn’t prepared for them to get so aggressive with her out of nowhere.
“I’ll escort you to your classroom,” Iris told her. They bid the older student farewell and started walking.
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ONCE they arrived at the classroom, Iris peered inside. Nigel was at his desk, but Reseda was nowhere to be found. “Nigel!” she called.
Instantly, all eyes turned to the girls. Though the Holy Maiden Evaluation results weren’t public yet, word had gotten around that Camille had won. Oh, Camille, your protagonist powers are something else.
Nigel hurried over to his sister. “What brings you here?”
“Miss Camille was in quite a pickle this morning, so I walked her here,” Iris explained, gesturing to Camille, who shrank back guiltily. She lowered her voice. “She was being pursued by some male students.”
“Is that so?”
At this, Nigel glanced around, his eyes glinting darkly. All the boys who had been ogling Camille hastily averted their gazes. Even Iris started to sweat. PLEASE don’t turn back into a sadistic bondage knight! Not after we’ve come so far!
He straightened up and turned to Camille. “Miss Camille, if you’re willing, I’d like you to retain me as your personal knight. That way, I can protect you at all times.”
He got down on one knee and took her hand. All the girls in the room squealed.
“S-Sir Nigel?!” Camille blushed furiously as Nigel looked up at her. “I…I, um… Yes, please…”
He kissed the back of her hand. Meanwhile, the entire class exploded at the spontaneous birth of a new couple…but Iris was confused.